Ohio’s unemployment website down as record number of claims are filed

CLEVELAND (WJW) — Ohio’s unemployment website was down Monday due to a record number of claims being filed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services site says, ” Due to heavy volume, our unemployment website is down. We are working diligently to bring the site back up. Thank you for your patience. “

Amid mass closures and layoffs resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said there has been a “historic” surge in jobless claims filed.

On Monday afternoon, Bret Crowe, spokesperson for the Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Services, released the following statement to FOX 8’s Matt Wright:

We have received a record number of initial jobless claims over the last eight days. During previous downturns in the economy, claims trickled in whereas these claims came in all at once. This amount of claims in this short expanse of time would tax any online system. We have been working around the clock to fix any issues with the online claims system so it can handle the number of claims, which has affected processing times. Despite the intermittent issues with the online claims system today, going to unemployment.ohio.gov remains the best way for Ohioans to file a claims.

On Friday, JFS reported 139,468 initial unemployment claims were filed between Sunday and Thursday of last week.